Mine car bumper and draft gear



V. WLLOUGHBY MINE GAR BUMPER AND DRAFT GEAR March 3, 1942.

Filed June 26, 1940 lill/l//l/l Patented Mar. 3, 1942 MINE CAR BUMPER AND DRAFT GEAR Aapplication .lune 26, 1940, Serial N o. 342,553

i2 Claims.

This invention relates to combined bumper and `draft gears in general and in particular to such gear when applied to mine or other industrial cars. En certain types of mine and industrial cars it is highly essential that resiliently mounted draft and bung gear be provided but in certain cases clearance limitations are such as to almost prohibit the use of such'gear. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide an extremely compact combined spring bumper and draft gear.

A further object of the invention is the prevision of a combined spring bumper and draft gear in which rubber units act in compression to resist both the bufling and draft forces.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of housing means for resilient units, which housing is designed to transmit both draft and buing forces to the resilient means housed thereby.

A yet further object of the invention is lthe provision of a housing means for resilient units which, together with the resilient units, may be applied as an assembly to the combined bumper and drawhead.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a portion of the car with parts in section and taken on line l-I of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a plan view with parts in section and taken on line 2 2 of Figure l;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the housing means for the` resilient units. v

Referring now to the drawing in detail, it will be seen that the improved bumng and draft arrangement has been applied to a car formed by end wall 2, side Walls connected together and to the side and center door portions G and 8 respectively. The walls and oor of the car are connected to any suitable sill elements and mounted upon wheels W through the medium of axles and journal boxes l secured to the sill elements in any suitable manner. In the car as illustrated the central floor portion is provided with an inverted portion i2 adapted to receive a car haulage means (not shown) situated between the rails at any desired location in the mine trackage. The side sills, central floor portion and end walls are tied together by an end construction which, inthe present instance, is

formed by an upper plate having lower, intermediate and upper horizontal portions M, I6 and I8 respectively, joined together by inclined portions 2! and 22. The intermediate horizontal portion, as clearly shown, has attached thereto an upper iiange 2li of' an angle form backing plate with the vertical leg 25 thereof extending downwardly and into notched relation with the horizontal flange 28 of an angle form lower plate.

The vertically directed flange 3? ofv this angle form lower plate is secured to the central door portion and together with the floor portioniand. upper plate forms a substantially closed triangular shaped end sill having upper and lowe-r flanges directed outwardly there-from. The side edges of the upper, lower and backing plates of the end construction are joined together by vertically extending plates .32 by means of. which, the end construction may be secured to the car side sills. The end construction is also braced by means of gusset plates 3d located 'within the closed triangular end member and these gussets serve to prevent distortion of the angle form backing plate when subjected to heavy bufiing forces. The outwardly directed flanges l and 28 of the end construction are joined together intermediate the side plates 32 by plates Sity which serve to stiffen the flanges against distortion and at the same time provide an open ended cavity for reception of the combined bumper and draft gear.

The combined bumper and draft gear is formed by a bumper member having curved outer face 3G joining together rearwardly directedv upper and lower flanges llt and Z2 respectively. The inner edges of these rearwardly directed flanges are joined together by means of a draft plate hav-l ing a vertically extending portion 44, an inclined portion i6 and an outwardly directed substantially horizontal portion 48 located above and inl spaced relation to flange le of the bumper member. As clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2the ver' tical portion 44 of the draft plate has openings 50 cut therein to receive the resilient housing means H shown in detail in Fig. 4. This housing member is of general U-shape having upper andy lower flanges 52 and 54 respectively joined to,

gether by vertically extending. wall-55. The side edges of the upper and lower flanges of the heus- This housing member is adapted to receive re-v silient units GE! preferably formed of rubber or like material adapted to rest against the verticaly wall 56 and against a plate 62 which may be separate or vulcanized to the resilient units. As clearly shown, the resilient units have a central opening adapted to permit compression of the unit, while at the same time centering and preventing shifting of the resilient unit through engagement with stud 64 secured to the central portion of the vertical connecting wall 56. In order to retain the resilient housing member in place within the draft gear and to retain the draft gear in the end construction, vertical keys 66 are provided and these keys extend through slots 68 formed in the flanges I8 and 28 of the end construction and slots 'HJ formed in flanges 40, 42 and 48 of the combined draft and bumper member, as well as through slots 12 formed in flanges 52 and 54 of the resilient housing member. As clearly shown, the lower portion of these keys is tapered as at 14, causing the keys to shift plate 62 toward end wall 56 of the housing member during driving of the keys and thereby placing the resilient units under a slight precompression. Draft forces are transmitted to the combined bumper and draft member by means of a vertically extending bolt or other means 16 extending through openings in the bumper and draft member and through slots 18 formed in flanges I8 and 28 of the end member.

From the preceding description it will be seen that to assemble the construction on the car the resilient units, together with the plate 62, will be inserted in the resilient housing member and the entire assembly inserted into the bumper between anges 40 and 42, with the rear portion of the housing extending through the openings in Vertical leg 44 of the draft plate. With the parts in this position the entire assembly is inserted into the outwardly opening pocket of the end construction, after which the keys 66 will be driven into position, thereby holding the entire bumper and draft gear assembly in position. The draft bolt or pin may now be inserted and will complete the assembly. It will be seen that draft forces applied to the draft bolt or pin will cause outward movement of the entire bumper and draft gear assembly and that the draft forces will be transferred by the Various plates to the plate 44 and it in turn will move the housing unit outward due to its engagement with opposed flanges 58, thereby causing compression of the resilient umts against plate 62 which is held by vertical keys 66. Bung forces received upon the curved face 38 will be transmitted directly to the keys 66 causing them to move rearwardly and compressing the resilient units through movement of plate 62 toward the wall 56, which is now held against movement by engagement with the backing plate of the end construction. The resilient umts have been shown as formed of rubber or similar material, but it is obvious that if desired springs may be substituted for the rubber units without in any way departing from the invention. y

While the construction has been described more or less in detail, it will be obvious that various modifications and rearrangements of parts may be made and all such modifications and rearrangements of parts are contemplated as will fall within the scope of the appended claims which define my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A combined bumper and draft device for mine and other cars comprising in combination with a car end member, a box-section bumper and draft element slidably supported by the end member and formed by a curved bufng face joined to a rear wall by upper and lower walls, openings in said rear wall, resilient units and housings therefor substantially inclosing said resilient units and located at least partially withing said bumper and draft element, said housings having projecting portions engaging the edge of the openings of the rear wall for connecting said housing and said bumper and draft element for transmitting draft forces to said resilient member, said housings being movable with respect to said walls and having portions projecting through said openings and into engagement with the end member, and means passing through said housings and connecting the latter to the end member and to the bumper and draft element to transfer bufng to the resilient units.

2. A combined bumper and draft device for mine and other cars comprising in combination with a car end member, a box-section bumper and draft element slidably supported by the end member and formed by a curved bung face joined to a rear wall by upper and lower walls, openings in said rear Wall, resilient units and housings therefor substantially inclosing said resilient units and located at least partially Within said bumper and draft element, said housings having portions projecting through said openings and into engagement with the end member and having other portions abutting said rear wall to limit the projection of the housings and operating to transfer draft forces through the housing to said resilient units, and means passing through said housings and connecting the latter to the end member and to the bumper and draft element to transfer bulilng forces to the resilient units and to receive draft forces therefrom for transfer to the end member.

3. A combined bumper and draft device for mine and other cars comprising in combination with a car end member, a box-section bumper and draf-t element slidably supported by the end member and formed by a curved buiiing face joined to a rear wall by upper and lower walls, openings in said rear wall, resilient units and housings therefor substantially inclosing said resilient units and located at least partially within said bumper and draft element, said housings being U-shaped in elevation and having the web thereof projecting through said openings into engagement with the end member, means on said housings to limit the projection thereof through said openings, and vertically extending keys passing through said end member and through said housing and bumper and draft element.

4. A combined bumper and draft device for mine and other cars comprising in combination with a car end member, a box-section bumper and draft element slidably supported by the end member and formed by a curved bumng face joined to a rear wall by upper and lower walls, openings in said rear wall, resilient; units and housings therefor substantially inclosing said resilient units and located at least partially within said bumper and draft element, said housings being U-shaped in elevation and having the web thereof projecting through said openings into engagement With the end member, means on said housings to limit the projection thereof through said openings, and vertically extending keys passing through said end member and through said housing and bumper and draft element, said keys transferring draft forces from said resilient units to the end member and imposing the bufling forces on the resilient units.

5. A draft device for mine and other cars comprising in combination with a car end member, a draft element slidably supported by the end member and having a rear wall with openings therein, independently shiftable housings located partially outward of said rear wall and having portions projecting through said openings into contact with said end member, means on said housings limiting the projection thereof through said openings, resilient means located within said housings, and keys passing through said housings outwardly of said resilient means and connected with said end member to transfer draft forces thereto from said resilient means, said draft forces being imposed on said resilient means by said rear wall and housing.

6. As an article of manufacture a housing for resilient units comprising a U-shaped member having a web and spaced flanges, and opposed rei-langes formed on the side edges of said flanges and located outwardly of said web, said reflanges projecting outwardly from vertical planes through the sides of said flanges.

'7. As an article of manufacture a housing for resilient units comprising a U-shaped member having a web and flanges extending therefrom, opposed reflanges formed on the side edges of said flanges and terminating in spaced relationship to said web, said reanges projecting outwardly from vertical planes through the sides of said flanges, and aligned key slots formed in said flanges intermediate said reflanges.

8. An end construction for mine cars comprising a box section end sill having spaced flanges projecting therefrom, a box section bumper and draft element arranged between said flanges and slidably supported by one thereof, a draft bolt supported by one of said flanges and extended into and through said bumper and draft element, a resilient element including a housing extending into said bumper and draft element and through the rear wall thereof and arranged in abutting relation with said end sill, said housing being formed with projecting portions which engage said rear wall for connecting said housing and bumper and draft element to transfer draft forces through the housing to said resilient units, and retaining means extended through said bumper and draft element and so arranged as to position said resilient element and to transmit bulng shocks from the bumper and draft element to said resilient means.

9. As an article of manufacture, a housing for resilient units comprising a substantially U- shaped member having the side edge portions of its flanges flanged in opposed relation and arranged outwardly of the vertical planes through the side edges of said flanges.

l0. As an article of manufacture, a housing for resilient units comprising a substantially U- shaped member having at least portions of the side edges of its flanges bent toward each other and arranged outwardly of the vertical planes through the side edges of said flanges.

1l. An end construction for mine cars comprising an end member, spaced flanges projecting therefrom, a bumper element arranged between said flanges and including a bufilng plate, a rear wall and connecting upper and lower walls, openings in said rear wall, movably mounted resilient units including housings therefor located partially between said upper and lower bumper walls and extending through said openings for engagement with said sill to permit the transj mission of builing forces, vertically extending keys passing through said spaced ilanges, housings and upper and lower walls of said bumper to transmit draft forces from said resilient units to said end member land for imposing bufling forces on the resilient units.

12. An end construction for mine cars comprising an end member, spaced flanges projecting therefrom, a bumper element arranged between said flanges and including a builing plate, a rear wall and connecting upper and lower walls, openings in said rear wall, movably mounted resilient units including housings therefor located partially between said upper and lower bumper walls and extending through said openings for engagement with said sill to permit the transmission of buing forces, means carried by said housing for engagement with the inner face of the end wall to limit their movement through said openings, vertically extending keys passing through said spaced flanges, housings and upper and lower walls of said bumper to transmit draft forces from said resilient units to said end member and for imposing bufling forces on the resilient units.

VICTOR WILLOUGHBY. 

